TEMPE, AZ. – College tennis has proven time and again to be an exceptional pathway to the pro tour. In 2022, this was no exception as 65 former student-athletes currently rank within the Top 100 of either the ATP or WTA Rankings.
Making up 16% of all players in the Top 100 Singles and Doubles Rankings, former student-athletes not only excelled in ATP and WTA Tour events but in Grand Slams as well, winning at least one Championship at three of the four Grand Slams.
In the ATP Singles Rankings, 11 former collegiate athletes find their way into the Top 100 year-end ranking, led by former TCU standout Cam Norrie who continued to elevate his game on tour this past season.
The former Horned Frog took home two ATP Titles in 2022 and reached the Semifinals of the Wimbledon Championships where he took eventual champion Novak Djokovic to four sets before ending his career-best Grand Slam run.
It is UCLA placing the most players in the ATP Top 100, as Maxime Cressy (No. 34), Marcos Giron (No. 61), and Mackenzie McDonald (No. 63) have all showcased the Bruin talent on tour right now, as the three players have all handled the transition from the college game to the pro tour with grace.
Out of the 11 ranked men’s singles players, four played at SEC institutions, including Florida’s Ben Shelton who has had a meteoric rise up the ATP Singles Rankings since turning pro just before the 2022 US Open.
Danielle Collins leads the charge for collegiate alum in the WTA Singles Rankings as the former Virginia Cavalier climbed all the way up into the Top 10 this season before ending the year ranked No. 14 in the WTA Singles Rankings.
The two-time NCAA Singles Champion reached her first Grand Slam Final in 2022, making a run at the Australian Open before losing to world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the Championship Match.
Pepperdine’s Mayar Sherif is the other former collegiate athlete in the WTA Rankings as the three-time ITA All-American won two WTA Championships to finish out her 2022 season to lead her to her career-high ranking.
It is men’s doubles where collegiate alum really shined this past season as 35 of the Top 100 ranked players come from the collegiate level.
Having a former student-athlete ranked as the No. 1 men’s doubles player for a majority of the year, both of the US Open and French Open Men’s Doubles Champions came from the collegiate ranks.
Former LSU alum, Neal Skupski, finished the season as the No. 1 ranked men’s doubles player in the world. The ex-Tiger was the 2022 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Champion with Desirae Krawczyk (Arizona State) and finished Runner-Up in the US Open Men’s Doubles Draw.
Rajeev Ram (Illinois) and Joe Salisbury (Memphis) continue to be one of the top doubles duos on tour as the two won back-to-back US Open Championships this year and ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the ATP Doubles Rankings for the majority of the year.
These representatives come from every level of college tennis as well, with several Top 100 players having played at non-power five institutions as well as one who played at the Division II level throughout his collegiate career.
Women’s Doubles is also heavily scattered with former student-athletes as 17 of the Top 100 ranked women’s doubles players made their way to the tour from the collegiate level.
Desirae Krawczyk (Arizona State) and Ena Shibahara (UCLA) both took home Grand Slam Titles in 2022 as Krawczyk was the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Champion and Shibahara the French Open Mixed Doubles Champion.
USC places four players in the Top 100 to lead all teams. Giuliana Olmos (No. 8) who was an ITA All-American in singles during her final season with the Trojans, is the highest-ranked collegiate player in the WTA Doubles Rankings.
With a new ATP and WTA Tour season right around the corner, collegiate athletes will once again look to continue to shine under the brightest lights as college tennis continues to be a pathway to the pro level, with more and more former and current student-athletes excelling amongst the best in the world.
Collegiate Alum In ATP Singles Rankings
- 14 – Cam Norrie, TCU
- 30 – Francisco Cerundolo, South Carolina
- 34 – Maxime Cressy, UCLA
- 41 – John Isner, Georgia
- 44 – Arthur Rinderknech, Texas A&M
- 47 – Brandon Nakashima, Virginia
- 48 – Jenson Brooksby, Baylor
- 61 – Marcos Giron, UCLA
- 63 – Mackenzie McDonald, UCLA
- 66 – JJ Wolf, Ohio State
- 97 – Ben Shelton, Florida
Collegiate Alum In WTA Singles Rankings
- 14 – Danielle Collins, Virginia/Florida
- 52 – Mayar Sherif, Pepperdine
Collegiate Alum In ATP Doubles Rankings
- 1 – Neal Skupski, LSU
- 3 – Rajeev Ram, Illinois
- 4 – Joe Salisbury, Memphis
- 6 – Marcelo Arevalo, Tulsa
- 6 – Jean-Julien Rojer, UCLA
- 10 – Austin Krajicek, Texas A&M
- 12 – Lloyd Glasspool, Texas
- 16 – Michael Venus, LSU
- 18 – Tim Puetz, Auburn
- 20 – John Isner, Georgia
- 24 – Andreas Mies, Auburn
- 29 – Robert Farah, USC
- 34 – Jan Zielinski, Georgia
- 37 – John Peers, Middle Tennessee/Baylor
- 40 – Gonzalo Escobar, Texas Tech
- 46 – Nathaniel Lammons, SMU
- 50 – Jackson Withrow, Texas A&M
- 52 – Aleksandr Nedovyesov, Oklahoma State
- 59 – Sadio Doumbia, Georgia
- 61 – Sander Gille, ETSU
- 62 – Joran Vliegen, East Carolina
- 64 – Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, Texas
- 65 – Nicolas Barrientos, West Florida
- 69 – Henry Patten, UNC Asheville
- 70 – Julian Cash, Mississippi State/Oklahoma State
- 75 – Andre Goransson, California
- 79 – Ben McLachlan, California
- 80 – Diego Hidalgo, Florida
- 83 – Hunter Reese, Tennessee
- 84 – Saketh Myneni, Alabama
- 85 – John-Patrick Smith, Tennessee
- 87 – Robert Galloway, Wofford
- 94 – Mackenzie McDonald, UCLA
- 98 – William Blumberg, North Carolina
- 99 – Hans Hach Verdugo, Abilene Christian
Collegiate Alum In WTA Doubles Rankings
- 8 – Giuliana Olmos, USC
- 11 – Anna Danilina, Florida
- 16 – Desirae Krawcz, Arizona State
- 20 – Ellen Perez, Georgia
- 22 – Ena Shibahara, UCLA
- 31 – Erin Routliffe, Alabama
- 41 – Alexa Guarachi, Alabama
- 46 – Aldila Sutjiadi, Kentucky
- 47 – Luisa Stefani, Pepperdine
- 54 – Aliona Bolsova, Oklahoma State/Florida Atlantic
- 57 – Angela Kulikov, USC
- 61 – Alicia Barnett, Northwestern
- 63 – Kaitlyn Christian, USC
- 78 – Catherine Harrison, UCLA
- 80 – Ingrid Neel, Florida
- 85 – Sabrina Santamaria, USC
- 93 – Samantha Murray Sharan, Northwestern
